I wrote this story in my original blog but since I rebooted it, the archives got zapped so I’m writing it again because it was an experience that changed my life.
Cancun
In early 2000’s, as I recall, my wife and I took our kids down to Cancun, Mexico for a family vacation. We stayed at an all inclusive resort and loved the white sand beaches. I don’t recall the exact month we went but we had the whole hotel to ourselves. The beach and the pool we empty except for us and we had a great time. No crowds, no drunk people, and no trouble, it was paradise.
The Timeshare Salesman
At some point during our trip, we took taxis to various sites and on the way back to our hotel our taxi driver asked us if we were interested in earning $80 and a free dinner at a fancy hotel. We were a bit confused by the offer and thought it was a scam so we said no but he insisted it wasn’t a scam and it wouldn’t cost us anything. He did tell us that we had to listen to a timeshare sales promo.
We ultimately accepted the offer because we loved Cancun so much that we actually thought maybe we would want to buy a timeshare and come visit every year. Unfortunately, the whole experience was terrible, the pushy salesman kept wanting us to sign and buy a unit no matter what we said. They were very well rehearsed about countering every reason why we weren’t interested.
At the end, we did get our $80 and free dinner but we vowed we would never ever sit for another time share promo again and nearly 20 years later we haven’t repeated that nightmare. We did not sign anything.
The Diver
While we were waiting at the airport for our flight back to the U.S. a nice man came and sat next to us and started up a conversation. I don’t recall the gentleman’s name but I do recall his advice even to this day.
We call him ‘the diver’ because he traveled the world to go scuba diving and moved from country to country. The man seemed to be very well off and quite intelligent. At one point, he asked us if we had been asked to do a timeshare promo. We laughed and said yes and wondered how he knew. He said he gets asked to go to one every single time he goes down there to dive.
He then asked what the terms were and what we thought of their offer. We told him the numbers. They wanted $40,000 for a two bedroom unit that we could use 7 days out of the year (this is what I recall 20 years later). We told him we were considering it but thought it was a lot of money.
Without missing a beat, he looked off into the distance for a second then came back with, “Well, if you invest $40,000 at 8% interest, you’ll earn $3200/year and that will get you $547/day. That’s enough money for a really nice hotel room or even two hotel rooms.” He then also mentioned that we would not be tethered to Cancun and could theoretically travel anywhere in the world with that money. He finished by saying, “if it were me, I would pass on that offer.”
My First Personal Finance Mentor
While our conversation with ‘the diver’ only lasted less than half an hour before we parted ways, it was highly enlightening to me. The diver was my first personal finance mentor. After we landed back home I couldn’t help but think at how savvy the diver was with personal finance. It literally took him seconds to assess our situation and come up with reasons why we shouldn’t do something and how we could do something else instead that was likely far better for us.
While my wife and I had spent the time thinking about how much the payments would be and how much fun it would be to have a “home” in Cancun for a week each year, this guy saw things in a completely different way. In essence, he changed my entire perspective at how I looked at things from that point forward.
From that day on, I never looked at an expense or investment without considering at least two different way of looking at things. And from that day forward, I decided to dedicate time to learning how to become as savvy as the diver. That was the year I started buying personal finance books, started reading personal finance blogs and started Get Rich Slick. Never say that one person can’t make a difference because if you’re reading this now, you owe the Diver, a bit of gratitude.
And 25 years later, I am far wealthier, savvier, and happier for having met the diver on that day at the airport. I think about the diver often and wonder if he’s even still alive and traveling the world diving. I certainly appreciate that chance encounter now more than ever having accumulated millions under his initial simple advice that made me question everything.
I remember this story because my uncle recently bought a timeshare. He actually went in with another couple and they are sharing the expense. They spent a great deal of money and I felt bad for them because I don’t think they understood what they were getting into nor the possibilities of investing that money and having greater flexibility in the future.